Body-garment.



G. W. T. DAVIES.

BODY GARMENT. v

APPLIGATION TILED JULY 17.1907,

Patented Sept. 13,1910.

CHARLES W. T. DAVIES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BODY-GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 17, 1907.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

Serial No. 384,136.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. T. DA- VIES, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Body-Garments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to body garments and especially to Waistcoats.

The invention has for its principal object the provision of means for locking the body garment, such as a waistcoat, to one or more of the garments under it, such as the shirt and trousers; so as, first, to keep the body garment from riding up; second, to position its front closure in substantially fixed relation to that of the garments under it; and, third, to keep the body garment smooth and unwrinkled.

The invention contemplates the locking of the body garment by a positive anchorage engaging the button or other fastener of one or more of the underlying garments.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention as embodied in a waistcoat, and the following description will disclose the invention as applied to that type of body garments, as the invention is primarily designed for embodiment in such garments.

In order to attain the objects of the invention in the fullest measure, it is desirable that the looking or securing means employed u on the waistcoat be located as near as possi le to the lowest button-hole and, for that reason, I provide an attachment on the inside of the waistcoat immediately behind the lowest button, and, with high-cut Waistcoats, I may provide a supplemental attachment adjacent to the topmost button. This attachment may take a variety of forms, and I have illustrated several different forms in the accompanying drawings, all of them being designed to effect the same results and operating in substantially the same way.

In the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by similar characters of reference: Figure 1 is a view of a waistcoat and adjacent garments in position upon a male figure, the waistcoat being thrown open to disclose the locking devices in operative position; Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the application of the invention to a lowcut waistcoat of the type worn for evening dress and showing a different form of locking device; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a locking device of the form shown in Fig. 2, a portion of the inner surface of the waistcoat to which the attachment is fastened being also shown; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing another form of attaclnnent; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a fourth form of attachment; Fig. (3 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a fifth form of attachment.

The form of locking device shown in Fig. l is in some respects preferable to those shown in the remaining figures, though some persons may find some of the other forms of locking device more to their liking. The locking device shown in Fig. 1 consists simply of a cord 1 secured upon the inner surface of the waistcoat WV by being passed in and out through the inner ply of the waistcoat to form a series of exposed portions and a series of hidden portions. The cord 1 may be located at the seam where the lining joins the facing on the inner surface of the waistcoat near the margins of the front opening, or it may be carried through the fabric itself by means of a bodkin or large needle. The length of the cord 1 should be such that one of the exposed parts may be drawn out to form av loop 2 for engagement with one of the buttons on one of the underlying garments. The ends of the cord 1 must be securely fastened, of course, so that when the cord is drawn out to present a loop 2 neither end of the cord will become detached from the waistcoat. As the cord is secured only at its ends, any one of the exposed portions of the cord may be drawn out to present a loop, and when one of the exposed portions of the cord is so drawn out all the others will be drawn into contact with the fabric of the waistcoat. I provide a number of exposed portions of the cord for the reason that the position of buttons upon the underlying garments is not always the same in relation to the waistcoat and, consequently, a single fixed loop would not always be adapted to engage properly with one of the buttons to hold the waistcoat in proper position.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the waistcoat is of the high-cut type and is provided with a locking device adjacent to the lowest button and also a supplemental locking device adjacent to the topmost button. The lower locking device is designed for engagement with one of the trouser buttons, and the upper locking device is designed for engagement with one of the shirt buttons or studs. Both the locking devices are designed to be brought into engagement with the respective buttons for which they are adapted before the openings of the garments to which the buttons are attached are closed, thus positively preventing the escape of the buttons from the loops formed by the cords of the locking devices.

The material employed in the cords of the locking devices may be silk, flax, or other fabric, or it may be a strip of hide or, preferably, a piece of catgut. In some respects I find cat gut preferable, as the loops hold their form better than loops formed of more flexible cord and it has great strength and capacity to resist wear.

The effectiveness of the locking device in holding the waistcoat against both upward and lateral movements will be apparent from simple inspection of Fig. 1. When the waistcoat is closed, the locking devices will, moreover, be completely concealed and they will not interfere in any wise with the comfort of the wearer.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the form of locking device illustrated is a flap 8 of flexible material, such as cloth, chamois skin, or kid, which is provided with a plurality of horizontally arranged button-holes 4. The flap is secured along one edge to the inner surface of the waistcoat, integrally or otherwise, but

preferably by sewing, and is located behind the lowest button, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The number of buttonholes provided is such that one of the button-holes will always be in such position that it may engage readily with one of the trouser buttons and hold the waistcoat securely without pulling it out of proper relation to the other garments, the flap being secured in the same way as in the construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The vertically-arranged button-holes 5 are preferably formed by making a single long button-hole and then placing transverse stays 6 across the single long button-hole at suitable intervals.

The form of attachment illustrated in Fig. 5 is a small frame 7 having a plurality of openings 8 of suflicient size to permit the passage of the button theret-hrough. The frame is preferably provided with eyelets at two of the corners to provide convenient means of attachment to the waistcoat, and it may be formed of any suitable material, such as metal, celluloid, or the like.

In Fig. 6 the locking device consists of a small frame 9 constructed of wire or the like and presenting a plurality of tongues 10 which enlarge toward their free ends, leavtheir fixed ends.

ing spaces between the tongues adjacent to These tongues are sufliciently resilient to permit the thread or other attaching means of a button to be forced between two adjacent tongues.

It will be noted that all of the locking devices described in the foregoing paragraphs and illustrated in the accompanying drawings extend laterally from the point of attachment upon the inner surface of the waistcoat and are adapted to hold the waistcoat against lateral as well as vertical movement. It will also be noted that the locking devices are all of such character that when in use, if properly adjusted in relation to the underlying garments, they will not impose upon the waistcoat any vertical strains of such magnitude as will draw the garment downward out of its proper position relative to the underlying garments and so afiect the set of the waistcoat.

It will be understood that the various forms of locking device illustrated and described are selected solely for purposes of illustration and not with the idea of exhausting the range of equivalent locking devices which might be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is:

l. A body garment provided with means for securing it to an adjacent garment, said securing means comprising a member extending laterally from its point of attachment on the body garment directly toa point of attachment on the adjacent garment and formed with apertures to engage said adjacent garment to permit a limited free relative movement and then positively restrict further relative movement of the garments.

2. A body garment, a waistcoat provided on its inner surface with a securing device extending laterally in a direct line from its point of attachment on the waistcoat to a securing device on said garment, one of said coacting devices being formed with an aperture to permit a limited free relative movement and then positively restrict further relative movement of the waistcoat and garment.

3. A waistcoat provided on its inner surface with means for securing it to an adjacent garment, said securing means comprising a member extending laterally in a direct line from its point of attachment to the waistcoat and having a plurality of openings, one of such openings being adapted to engage a securing device in the placket of the adjacent garment in any normal relative position of the waistcoat and garment, the coacting devices being so joined as to permit a limited free relative movement and then positively restrict further relative movement of the connected garments.

4. A Waistcoat having a front opening and provided on its under surface near the lower edge of said opening with a tab of flexible material secured along one of its edges to the waistcoat and having near its other edge a plurality of button-holes, one of said button-holes being adapted to receive a securing device of the closure of the trousers in any relative position of said waistcoat and trousers.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name in the resence of two witnesses.

EHARLES W. T. DAVIES. Witnesses:

WVM. BRADFORD, BAXTER MORTON. 

